Yes, that makes sense. Perhaps, then a button that will stop the refresh?
The button doesn't have to be visible, unless sighted users would somehow
benefit from that. I've tried to sop auto-refreshing in the past, when on a
dial-up connection. This could be tricky, though, as I'm not sure how easy
it is to insert refresh variables after a page has loaded?

The only issue I can speak to, and you're probably very aware of this, is
screen readers "loading" the page or "resetting" the location in the
document they are reading from.

Yes, that's a good suggestion, but we need for the refresh feature to
operate
even if the site is being accessed from a kiosk. Hence, if the Director
walks
by the kiosk in the lobby we want him to see the latest map on the screen.